Polling for 152 of the 294 seats in the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded on Thursday amid scattered incidents of violence, even as the Election Commission of India and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar praised voters for the “highest ever turnout” in the state. Police said they arrested 41 people in connection with the clashes.
Voting operations began in 16 regions at seven in the morning amid tight security measures to determine the electoral fate of 1,478 candidates.
According to updated European Commission figures, voter turnout reached 92.35%. “This is the highest ever in West Bengal since independence,” Kumar said.
Later in Kolkata, state Chief Executive Manoj Agarwal told reporters: “We are satisfied with the efforts we made which was reflected in the high voter turnout. There is always room for improvement. The CEC said it was also satisfied with the reports that voters voted without fear or favour,” the CEC said.
However, some clashes were reported in parts of the state.
Tensions erupted in parts of Murshidabad, Birbhum, Cooch Behar and Dakshin Dinajpur, where improvised bombs were allegedly thrown and candidates of both parties were attacked, even as security forces were deployed in large numbers to ensure a free and fair polling process.
Domkal and Nawada in Murshidabad, which witnessed the highest number of voter removals after segregation, reported clashes on Wednesday.
On polling day, a section of voters at a polling station in Raipur village in Domkal alleged that they were threatened with gunfire and asked not to go to the booths. Police and Central Armed Police Forces reached the spot and escorted the villagers to the polling station, officials said.
According to officials, the clash between the ruling TMC and the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in Raipur left at least four people injured. In a separate incident in Shibnagar in Nawada, crude bombs were hurled following a clash between the TMC and the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP), a party launched by former TMC leader Humayun Kabir. Workers of both TMC and AJUP later blocked the roads.
Meanwhile, BJP candidate from Kumarganj in Dakshin Dinajpur Suvendu Sarkar was allegedly assaulted by TMC workers outside the polling station while visiting the booths.
Earlier in the day, Sarkar was seen chasing a TMC worker amid allegations that the latter threatened one of his poll agents. Later, when he visited another polling station, he was reportedly attacked by TMC supporters. A video clip circulated on social media showed a group of people punching Sarkar and dragging him, while his guard tried to protect him.
BJP candidate from Asansol South in West Burdwan Agnimitra Paul also claimed that the windshield of her car was damaged while stones were pelted at it.
Speaking about the sporadic incidents of violence, state Chief Executive Agarwal said: “None of them were major in nature in terms of law and order.” “These were unfortunate incidents,” he added.
Regarding the alleged attack on Paul’s car, Agarwal said that an unknown person threw a stone at the back of her car and “the case began.”
According to police, nine people were arrested in connection with the Nawada incident, three from Dubrajpur and five from Kumarganj. Moreover, at least 571 pre-trial detentions were carried out on Thursday.
